Sadly, the film didn’t have quite enough bite to live up to all that barking

So I had high hopes for more uproarious Aussie comedy along the lines of Strictly Ballroom, The Castle or Summer Heights High.

Sadly, the film didn’t have quite enough bite to live up to all that barking.

It turned out to be an average family film that will entertain kids and get dog-loving adults dewy-eyed over its four-legged star.

Koko, a kelpie/collie cross, may not have all the showy tricks of The Artist’s Uggie but he makes up for it in doe-eyed charm. It’s the humans that let him down. Good-looking duo Josh Lucas and Rachael Taylor would look more at home poolside in Summer Bay than eeking out a living in a filthy outback outpost.

And the rest of the bum-scratch- ing, lager-swilling cast are too often let down by a patchy script and their own panto acting.

Perhaps, like Vegemite, this is made to very specific Aussie tastes. Those string vests and tiny shorts might seem hilariously retro Down Under.

But to Brits it’s someone else’s nostalgia.

And if, like me, you assumed they all dressed like that still, it makes as much comic sense as Ricky Ponting. The story bravely starts with Red Dog's final hours in a pub's back room, while a group of teary miners share tales of his glory days.

His adventures include a long feud with his furry rival Red Cat and a shared secret with a fat bloke with a passion for knitting.

But it’s his fiercely loyal relationship with Lucas’ bus driver that is at the heart of the story.

It's the dog's walkabout antics - after being separated from his master – that made him a legend and a national hero to Australians.

Sadly, the rest of the film’s charms don’t seem to travel quite so well.